Cold
by TurkWriter
Summary: Drabbles based on and about Kunieda Ryo as she goes through life, on the sidelines of all that goes on.
1. All Quiet

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Bleach. If I did, Ichigo and Rukia would be together already.

8:58 A.M. It was a Tuesday morning sometime in late April when Kunieda Ryõ walked to her desk in classroom 1-3 of Karakura High School and sat down. Out of habit, she sighed exasperatedly, waiting for one or another of her 'friends' to come over and greet her. When, after around five seconds, nobody arrived, she glanced up over the top of the large book she had decided to read that day. There was Mahana and Michiru, deep in conversation, both with wide eyes. Tatsuki stood a few feet away from them, an arm around Orihime's shoulders, speaking in a low, comforting voice. Ryõ rolled her eyes; another high school boy must be taken. She sat back more comfortably in her chair as the girls around her buzzed with gossip.

Ryõ was unlike the other girls in her class. While she had no problem talking to people if it was absolutely necessary, social interaction was not her thing. She would much rather curl up with a good book than spend time with the immature people she knew. Being around them annoyed her, set off a silent alarm in her head that made even the most silent of whispers seem like yells.

"NANI!"

"IT"S TRUE! STRAIGHT INTO ICHIGO'S HOUSE!"

But then again, with people like Chizuru and Asano around, it might actually have been yells in the first place. Before Ryõ could hide, the most loudmouthed member of her group ran over to her.

"Isn't that crazy!" Ryõ looked up towards Chizuru.

"Isn't what crazy?" Chizuru actually shuddered with excitement and for the first time in a very long while didn't even notice Orihime sitting five feet behind her.

"A truck crashed into Kurosaki's house last night! And it just drove off! And nobody got hurt! And-" Ryõ stopped listening, clutching her temple. She took a quick look around the classroom to confirm the story. Yes, Kurosaki was noticeably not there. The bell shrilly rang and Chizuru walked off, still babbling on about trucks and houses and orange-haired boys who were always trying to steal her 'Hime'.

Ryõ was the only girl to take out her geometry book when the teacher walked into the classroom, still pale after hearing what had happened to one of her students, no matter how much she disliked that Kurosaki. She was the only one to pay any attention the next period, correcting the teacher when Ochi confused an aspect of ancient Greek history for that of a Roman one. She was one of the few not talking about Kurosaki on the way to her third period home economics class, a disinterested look on her face.

Fourth period came and Ryõ walked into the locker room to change into her gym uniform. While her friends were still talking about the incident, it was in calmer tones now, as if the story was becoming old news.

And when Ryõ walked outside into the chilly spring day and saw Kurosaki laughing off what had happened with his friends, a little pale but whole and sound, she let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding.


	2. Alien

A/N: Thanks to seal-chan for showing interest in this!

Disclaimer: Prepare to be shocked: I do not own Bleach or anything associated with it.

As a high school freshman she would have found it disgustingly beneath her, but a six-year old Kunieda Ryõ had no qualms about spending hours hiding behind garbage cans. She was sure that if her parents or any other people saw her doing so they would immediately begin questioning what she was hiding from; in fact, one or two adults had already given her odd looks as they passed by. But Ryõ was not someone to be scared away from what she wanted, and today she was a young girl on a mission.

It had begun on her first day of kindergarten. Ryõ had already been seated quietly, a book of nursery rhymes larger than her head in front of her, when a young man had walked into the room. He had been holding the hand of a little chestnut-haired girl who was smiling too much for Ryõ's liking. Most of the children in the class had sad looks on their faces from being left behind by one or more of their parents; one boy with messy, orange hair sat bawling his eyes out near the toy trucks in the corner. Ryõ herself did not have a problem with leaving her family for a few hours each day, but she could not see why anyone would be so excited looking about starting school. She glared as suspiciously as a six-year old could at the man, who whispered something into the ear little girl he was with before hugging her and leaving. The girl, still smiling, was led over to the rug right next to Ryõ.

"Ryõ, this is Orihime. Can she sit here?" Ryõ shrugged and made a small noise of consent, before looking back at her book. She heard the little girl adjust her billowing skirt as she sat down.

"What are you reading, Ryõ-chan?" Ryõ's head shot up at the stranger's casual use of her name. She then promptly spit out the strands of brown hair that had found their way into her mouth when she had turned her head toward this girl. Who did she think she was, just coming in here and sitting so close? Orihime just continued smiling and waved a bit. "Ara ara, gomennasai!" Ryõ gave another shrug before showing Orihime the cover of the book. Orihime smiled at the image of the long-haired princess in the tower. "She looks like me!" Ryõ took a closer look at the cover.

"No, she does not. She has blond hair." Orihime giggled.

"But we both have long hair, Ryõ-chan!" Ryõ did have to admit that was true. Orihime had longer hair than anyone she had ever seen. Everyone she knew, both boys and girls, had short haircuts. In Ryõ's mind it was just another reason to not trust this new person.

This was why Ryõ was behind the trash cans in the first place. She had gone home that day, bored with how easy kindergarten was, but disturbed about the feeling that Orihime girl gave her. She had sat on her bed, without even opening a book, and tried to come up with a reason why. Then it had come to her. Orihime was obviously an alien, sent to take over young children's brains. That man she had walked in with must have been the alien leader and her bubbly personality a clever way to trick people into thinking she was a good person. The two had to be stopped before something happened. So Ryõ sat, waiting for Orihime to leave her apartment.

"KONNICHIWA, RYõ-CHAN!" Ryõ spun around while jumping up, almost knocking over one of the bins. Orihime stood behind her, beaming while eating some confetti candy. Her long hair swayed in the wind, a receiver for alien transmissions.

"Hello, Orihime," she was able to stammer out after catching her breath. Orihime, oblivious to Ryõ's discomfort, stuck a hand into her pocket and took out a small package.

"Would you like some? I think food always tastes better with friends!"

Ten minutes later, Ryõ walked away from Orihime's house. As the taste of candy left her mouth, she wondered how she would look with long hair.


End file.
